


legend grows around a grain of truth like a glittering pearl

by Anonymous



Category: Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu | Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Genre: Future Fic, Gen, Historical Inaccuracy, Pop Culture Warps Heroes, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-26
Updated: 2021-03-26
Packaged: 2021-03-28 05:47:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30134886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Centuries have passed and space has changed - and the stories of Reinhard and Yang have become legend more than history perhaps. Time to set the record straight?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3
Collections: Worldbuilding Exchange 2021





	legend grows around a grain of truth like a glittering pearl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MarsDragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarsDragon/gifts).



Nkechi Peters never felt at home in the Imperial Capital and she remembered why as soon as she stepped out of the spaceport. The high buildings around her all reminded her of an age long past, the big electronic billboards here were all in the lightest possible colors, light blue, light yellow, light green, giving the city the glitter like that of a precious jewel. The light came with the edge of calculated beauty made out to dazzle any new-arrivals and let them know without a doubt they had reached the true center of the galaxy, this place where all strands of power met and trends were set for all humanity. But whenever Nkechi saw the gargantuan figure of her Imperial majesty Kaiserin Siegelinde Fredegunde II. von Lohengramm-Goldenweihe in her luscious white gown with the purple-red cloak projected above the city she couldn't help but feel put off. The Kaiserin in her late forties was still an exceptionally stunning woman with a lean, elegant figure and wavy blonde her, but her regal smile had a razor-sharp edge to it that threatened to cut like a knife. She looked like a woman who knew the world was hers and was willing to pay the price to keep it that way.

Of course, Nkechi knew tension was running high in the Imperial household after the youngest son had decided to leave the court to marry not just a commoner but someone from the Aldebaran colonies that a mere 58 years ago had declared themselves a Federal Republic consisting of 24 newly colonized planets. Press and media had been hounding the prince about his improper affair with the "girl" that must have started during his university days for months and he had finally decided to leave titles behind to seek a different life - whatever that meant for someone who had been brought up in the golden cage forced upon him by dynastic requirements and public interest and who found himself now in the role of a PR nightmare for his homeland's government as well as a burden to the young government of his bride's home. Rumor had it that they were going to live in the Outer-Rim Federation that was effectively ruled by aristocrats that could trace their family trees back to the days of the Goldenbaum Dynasty.

Siegelinde herself had reportedly grumbled that this could only happen in a monarchy so confined by a constitution that allowed the press to run wild but what she actually meant by it was, that she was looking for legal ways to suppress renewed criticism of the Imperial family. In a way the son's indiscretion - if indeed you wanted to call a young man leaving home because he had fallen in love with someone from the other side of space an indiscretion - had given her a reason to act and tighten her grip on power just like she had planned to do since her ascension to the throne.

But the whole incident had made one thing abundantly clear: Even the members of the Goldenlöwe Dynasty were only humans, who loved and agued, who were happy, or greedy or fed up with what others might call their destiny. It shouldn't have come as surprise to anyone. Weren't they all just humans after all?

For a dynasty clinging to power, the admittance was a disaster.

Standing here, being greeted by the regal countenance of her Kaiserin, Nkechi could feel all of it - the tension, the anticipation, the danger that was lurking under the surface of this bright city.

She'd been given her own driver to accompany her to her home and the man looked up at the moving billboards with an unease that reflected hers. "She styles herself to look more and more like Reinhard I.," he remarked, "doesn't she?"

"Imperial Anniversary is coming up," Nkechi reminded him, feigning disinterest but she had been following not only the current political developments but also the propaganda machine at work for the upcoming celebrations and she knew that an Imperial haircut was rarely just an expression of individual fashion sense. As the edges of the Space Empire became increasingly frayed it became more and more important for Kaiserin and Imperial Prime Minister to demonstrate the glory of the New Galactic Empire - that everyone knew wasn't all that "new" anymore and needed reform to adapt to the current times.

Perhaps it had become increasingly more important after the NeuesLandHolo&SoloVisionNetwork (NLHSVN) had announced a second season of their hit series "Binary Stars" only a few weeks ago. The fictional drama series based on historical events had become a hit across the New Galactic Empire and garnered praise because it wasn't only focusing on Reinhard von Lohengramm and his heroic fight to restore the fame and glory of the Goldenbaum dynasty that ended with the rise of his star and family ( a part of history that the Goldenlöwe family had increasingly emphasized since the marriage of Hildegarde III. with the last male Goldenbaum heir ended the third Galactic Civil War) but had also given much thought and attention to the developments of rival characters. The program had also dug up historical facts that were surprising to the public and for years had only been known to dedicated historians - packaged with the weirdest instances of make-believe to push the ratings.

"Did you know this planet was called Phezzan before we started to call it Hauptpstern?" the driver asked her.

"I did," she said. "But I was a historian before I became an ambassador."

Recently it had become well-known trivia thanks to the "Binary Stars" series.

"Fan of _Binary Star_?" she asked and looked out the window.

"My daughter has a crush on that one actor," the man said and typed in their coordinates and leaned back to let the autopilot of the aircar do the work while he leaned back watching the security updates on his little screen. "You know? The Eastern Type one."

"Young," she said, "Shin Young."

"Young, Yang, that one, yeah."

She chuckled. It was funny in her mind that a young man named Young had been cast to play Marshal Yang Wen-li, who for the longest time had only been played by men much too old for the role and who for nearly three-hundred years had been sidelined as a soldier of fortune type figure or been cast as the convenient villain when needed.

Just this morning she had picked up a new article on the battle of Vermillion that had religiously listed all data sets that survived from the end of the old Empire to prove - not entirely conclusively in her opinion - that in truth Yang had had at least six times the numbers under his command at the time compared to the Imperial fleets he'd faced and that was the only reason why he had been able to get in Reinhard's way as he had.

"I wonder what Reinhard I. would think of all this," the driver said and Nkechi was left to wonder if he meant _Binary Stars_ or the latest Imperial family scandal - or indeed the fact that space was heading towards another all-out war.

She caught sight of the Kaiserin waving at her subjects from one of the huge 3D billboard recordings, considered her posture and hairstyle, and wondered. Was Siegelinde trying to look and hold herself like the famous young founder of her dynasty? Was she trying to emulate him before striking out at all the rebels that had seceded from Imperial rule now that two generations of restoration had given power back to her and weakened the Galactic parliament further? "We're heading for war, aren't we?" she asked herself. Out loud she said: "I think the one thing that Reinhard I. and Marshal Yang would have agreed upon easily would have been this: History runs on and on. You can look to the past or the future - but it'll all be history to someone later."

The driver looked at her stunned for a moment and she smiled, feeling extremely tired.

"I never asked," he said. "You're not from Hauptstern?"

"No," she answered and after a moment added lightly, "I was born on El Facil."

"That planet that vanished?" His eyes widened.

"They say it was destroyed in the three-year war to squash the third Iserlohn Republic," she explained.

* * *

At home, she took a bath and picked up the article about Yang Wen-li again.

* * *

> _Centuries later it seems absurd that the legend of one single surviving fleet under one ambitious commander rising to defend the Alliance against the invading forces of an evil Empire ever found a fertile breeding ground in the minds of billions. It's a good story - but it's only that: a STORY._
> 
> _Yang Wenli's greatest achievement was the subtle ways in which he swayed opinions in his favor. He knew how narratives worked and he knew their power just as well as his political adversary, former Defense Minister and later Head of State Trünicht. We have seen many examples of it, from the way he turned two defeats - El Facil, Astarte - into glorious feats of heroism, spurring his career. It's a proven fact that after El Facil he took some time to investigate the exploits of his hero Bruce Ashby, learning from that great tactician and schemer to surpass him. Yang took Iserlohn to further his career and steer the Alliance into a new phase of the war with the Empire and only the superior strategizing of Reinhard I. - then still Imperial Commader Reinhard von Lohengramm - stopped Yang's continued rise and changed history forever.  
>  _

* * *

"Kei-M," she said to voice-activate her holo-AI assistant. "Arrange for our departure. We're leaving Hauptstern."

"Another mission? You only just returned and wanted to look for those records of..."

"Yes, yes, Iserlohn and Julian Mintz. I found nearly everything I will find in the Hauptstern archives that I can get my hands on without stirring a diplomatic crisis."

"So don't you want to work on your book, dear?" Kei-M asked and cocked her head as if she was trying to understand.

"I can write my book anytime anywhere. Preferably somewhere where it'll be published." She winked.

She had found what she needed - which hadn't been what she'd been looking for but something better. She had found and copied most of the diaries of Annerose von Grünewald and a huge trove of remaining letters and records of her correspondence with Kaiserin Hildegarde and the Mittermeyers. She hadn't worked through all of it yet but preserved everything as quickly as possible. What she had read so far had confirmed her suspicions that Reinhard's hadn't been the happy lover of a Godenbaum Kaiser who had ushered her brother through the ranks so he could serve the Kaiser. There was more to her story and a darker twist to Reinhard's usurpation of the throne. There were gentle letters to Admiral Kircheis hinting at a subtle love story cut short. The names Frederica Greenhill-Yang and Julian Mintz came up a couple of times in later years, a search of the scanned data confirmed, as did the name Yang Wen-li. If her other suspicions were confirmed Nkechi would be able to publish an article she'd been working on for a long time just in time for the Imperial Anniversary - setting the record straight about Yang and his intentions.

The AI's face froze as the processes started running, catching the underlying meaning and letting subprograms take over to make sure they couldn't be overheard. "We're going home then, dear? To El Facil?"

"To New Iserlohn." She whispered the new name of their dislocated planet proudly. "I'm tired of Imperial life."

"I will get everything ready," Kei-M promised.

In the background, a trailer for the new season of _Binary Star_ was playing on a big Soli-vision screen.

Nkechi Peters grinned to herself. 

On her desk were pictures of a younger Reinhard von Müsel and of Yang Wen-li in a cadet's uniform. She looked from the screen down to them and remembered something Julian Mintz had written about his adoptive father and mentor: "He never liked being called a hero. He would have rather observed and studied history as it unfolded instead of making it."

She agreed with the sentiment.

But she - like Yang - knew that history had not come to an end yet and it was history and historians like her who would research and evaluate and decide where it all fit into the puzzle of humanities conflicts and achievements later. But the present was molded by the living - and all of them had their convictions, their goals, their dreams. Sometimes you had to play the role assigned to you.

This was hers.

Casting some light into shadow in troubled times.


End file.
